Featured photos

Canada got the last hurrah at the Celebration of Light Saturday evening, closing the three-night event with a winning display. Canada was declared the winner of the event, with Brazil and China finishing second and third, respectively.

Nutritionist Jessica Begg in front of a fast food outlet in Vancouver.

Photograph by: Steve Bosch
, Vancouver Sun

Fast cars and fast talkers can get you speeding tickets and worthless shares in Bolivian tin mines but fast food has implications for your heart, arteries and waistline.

Trouble is, just about everyone loves fast food. It’s an ingrained part of North American culture — exported to every country in the world.

Want to see the Great Wall of China? You can’t trot along the battlements with a Big Mac in one hand and a Starbucks double latte in the other?

Just imagine what your neighbourhood would look like if every fast food outlet vanished — Broadway would shrink to half its size.

Given that fast food is often at odds with good nutrition, the question arises: Can you eat sensibly once you’re under the likes of the Golden Arches?

Vancouver nutritionist and registered dietitian Jessica Begg, who runs Flourish Wellness+Nutrition, says it’s possible but only if fast-fooders avoid some of the pitfalls and ambushes awaiting on the menus.

“I’m the same as most people I eat out [in fast food places] at times. But I try to make changes to what they are serving. I’ll ask for half fries-half salad and pass on some of mayonnaise, sauces and dressing they use,” said Begg.

Most people look at a menu and only see nice soft eggs, crispy bacon and french fries but Begg sees calories, fat content measured in grams and sodium (salt to the uninitiated) in milligrams.

And while the mathematics of hunger usually leaves the average person computing whether to have large, medium or small fries with that double burger, Begg’s internal calculations revolve around the formula of 2,000 calories, 65 grams of fat and 2,400 milligrams of sodium — the recommended daily dose of all the good and bad.

So we asked Begg to run her nutritionist’s eye over the menus of some of the major fast food chains as well as some of the popular and moderately priced franchise restaurants such as Milestones.

The result was surprising.

For instance, if you think you’re doing your body a favour passing on a Tim Hortons old fashioned glazed doughnut so you can sink your teeth into that whole wheat carrot muffin (400 calories, 19 grams of fat, 660 milligrams of sodium) — think again.

“When I was at university, I used to go to Tim Hortons and get one of those muffins with tea as a snack in between classes. But if you take a look at what’s in it in terms of calories, fat and sodium, you’d be just as well off getting one of their ham and cheese sandwiches [calories almost the same, less fat and slightly more sodium] because your appetite would get a bigger bang for the buck.

“And if you compare the muffin to their old fashioned glazed doughnuts [320 calories, 19 fat and 230 sodium] you’re better off with the doughnut,” she said.

“On the whole I like Tim Hortons lunches. They use whole wheat in their buns and their portions are smaller,” she said.

And McDonald’s, which took the heat for the fast food industry when the documentary Super Size Me came out in 2004 and showed what a steady diet of fast food does to the human frame, is not the worst by a long shot when it comes to nutrition, said Begg.

“If you look at their Egg McMuffin [290 calories, 12 fat, 760 sodium] it’s not too bad for breakfast as long as you keep away from the hash browns, which at 150 calories, nine fat and 390 sodium, would result in you getting a third of your daily allowance of fat and half your amount of sodium in just one meal if you have both,” she said.

However, it pales compared to eating a Burger King Double Croissan’wich with sausage, egg and cheese and large hash browns, which would weigh in for a combined 1,240 calories, 87 fat, and 2,440 sodium, which exceeds the daily recommended dose of fat and sodium in one sitting.

But what makes Begg’s eyebrows really rise is the sight of DeDutch’s Boer’s with Fruit.

“It sounds like it should be healthy but it contains 1,783 calories, 112 fat, and 3,673 sodium. It’s astronomical,” she said.

“The idea is for people to eat their daily recommended amount of calories, fat and sodium over three meals and two snacks.

“So if the average person needs 2,000 calories a day, you should only have about 500 in each of your three meals with the rest coming from snacks,” she said.

However, if you go into Milestones and order their Grilled Chicken Pesto Fettuccini for example (1,460 calories, 94 fat, 3,290 sodium) you can blow almost your daily amount of calories, and 11⁄2 times your fat and sodium allowance in just one meal.

“And, of course, this doesn’t include having an appetizer or any alcohol or dessert,” she said.

Begg said none of this should scare people away from eating in fast food outlets or restaurants.

“If we’re only doing it occasionally, that’s one thing. But if it’s constant you should go on-line and check what you are eating so you are aware of how it compares to the recommended daily levels for good eating.”

Part of Begg’s work involves counselling companies and individuals on healthy eating and lifestyle.

“I find if people are eating out a lot, they have a lifestyle that often doesn’t lend itself to exercising and working out. It’s a fact — it’s hard to eat well if you are eating out all the time.”

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.